Government education bosses are to decide whether to give the go ahead for senior staff and governors at Finham Park School to launch a free school.

Proposals for a new secondary school called Finham Park 2, to serve the south west of Coventry, have now been sent to the Department for Education.

If it gets the green light from the government the secondary school would cater for 800 11- to 18-year-olds.

Mark Bailie, head of the existing Finham Park, in Green Lane, Coventry, said: “We are delighted to be making this application to the Department for Education for a new school for Coventry.

“We have been working with the local community for the last six months and have been overwhelmed with the level of local support – to date over 600 families have already come forward to support our proposals.

“We hope to have some positive news to share with them in the summer, when we expect to hear whether our application has been approved by the secretary of state for education, Michael Gove.

“We are still very keen for parents to register their interest in our new school.

“The more registrations we have the better chance of being successful in our application”

Finham Park School staff have been working with national charity, the New Schools Network as they prepared for the application to be submitted.

Natalie Evans, director of New Schools Network, said: “Finham Park School has worked tirelessly to prepare an application for the Department for Education and we very much hope they will have the chance to put their plans into action when the government announces later in the summer which groups have been given the green light to open.”

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